Rangers Reaquire 14-Time All-Star

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is returning to Arlington.

Several media outlets are reporting that the Rangers have reached an agreement with the Houston Astros to bring the future Hall of Famer back to Texas for one more run.

The move is important for Texas because their regular catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore arm and numbness in his throwing hand.

"We're excited to have Pudge," club president Nolan Ryan said. "We're looking forward to having him, and he's excited about coming back. He brings experience, he's a veteran player and he's been in the postseason. He brings a lot."



It is believed that Texas will be sending two mid-level prospects (expected to be Class A pitcher Matt Nevarez and Double-A infielder Jose Vallejo) to Houston in exchange for the 14-time All-Star. It was confirmed that Texas first spoke to Pudge to ensure he understands his role with the Rangers will be to act as a back-up for Taylor Teagarden before going ahead with the deal.

"I'm feeling great, feeling good. It's nice to be back to the place that I started," said Rodriguez, who waived his no-trade clause. "It's nice to be back there. It's also sad. I think Houston is a great team and a good group of guys. The fans are great, but business is business. You've got to prepare for anything. Especially being a veteran player, those things can happen.

"I'm going to move forward. It's a good trade. It will be nice to go there. ... I'm looking forward to going there and to do my best to try to help them win."

Rodriguez, a 13-time Gold Glove winner, former AL MVP, and the all-time leader in games played for a catcher, spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Rangers. A career .299 hitter, Pudge is hitting .251 this year with 8 homeruns and 34 RBI in 93 games.

Josh Hamilton Still Battling Demons

Several pictures have surfaced from back in January of this year which show Rangers All-Star slugger, Josh Hamilton, in a less-than-positive light. First published on Deadspin.com, the photos depict an inebriated Hamilton in a bar with several women, none of whom are his wife.

Hamilton held a press conference today to own up to the incident.

"I'm embarrassed about it. For the Rangers, I'm embarrassed about it. For my wife, my kids," Hamilton said. "Unfortunately, it happened. It just reinforces to me that if I'm out there getting ready for a season and taking my focus off the most important thing in my recovery, which is my relationship with Christ, it's amazing how those things creep back in."



"Honestly, I hate that this happened," he said. "But it is what it is. You deal with it. I realized that, obviously, I'm not perfect, in this ongoing struggle, battle, that is very real. A lot of people don't understand how real it is."

"I wasn’t mentally fit or spiritually fit…. It just crossed my mind ‘Can I have a drink?’ Obviously, I can’t. One drink leads to two and two drink leads to 10 or 12. When I was in AA, one saying I heard was one drink is too many and 1,000 is never enough. Alcohol just doesn’t mix well with me."

Hamilton informed the team of the incident the day after it happened. The Rangers have said there will be no punishment of Hamilton.

"As soon as it happened, I called my support system -- my wife, the Rangers, MLB and told them what had happened," he said Saturday. "I was absolutely open and honest about it."

"My first reaction in January was concern," said Ranger GM Jon Daniels. "Here’s a guy who’s obviously dealt with substance abuse at a pretty significant level. But immediately he came forward and was honest. He was remorseful, he was accountable."



Hamilton was drafted first overall in the 1999 draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but spent much of his time as part of their organization in and out of rehab facilities and/or on suspension by Major League Baseball. Hamilton's January incident was the first drink he'd taken since Oct. 6, 2005.

One would have to believe that what happened in January most certainly could end up costing Hamilton some money as it now re-introduces doubt in his ability to control his addictions. In March, Texas began negotiations with Hamilton on a long-term extention. The All-Star has 4 years of arbitration left before he will be eligible for free agency but the Rangers were looking to lock him up with what many experts speculated was a six-year contract. The offer, which would have paid him significantly more money than he would make during his arbitration years, would also allow Texas to control Hamilton's rights for the first two years of his free agency. While figures of the offer were never released, most believe they were somewhere similar to what Texas agreed on with Ian Kinsler (4 years, $22 million). Hamilton and his agent turned down the offer saying, "My agent and I were disappointed with their offer."

With Hamilton now back in the news due to a relapse (even if it was an isolated incident) you'd have to think, with Josh's past, the fact that he's clearly not out of the woods with regards to his addictions, and his season-long struggles at the plate, Texas may be even less willing to offer up a huge contract extention, choosing instead to ride out the arbitration process.

Hamilton is loved and respected by his teammates and is said to be a positive guy in the clubhouse. In the Saturday press conference, Hamilton said he would be addressing his teammates soon regarding what happened in January.



"What I do off the field affects my teammates and the name of this organization. They know who I am and what I want to accomplish.

"I don't feel like I'm a hypocrite. I feel like I'm human. I got away from the one thing that keeps me straightened out and going in the right direction."

Rangers Leave Their Mark At All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star is far and away the best of all the All-Star games as it is the only game which most closely represents how the game is truly played. With the NFL, NHL and NBA, defense is done away with in the name of ridiculously high levels of scoring. It's very 3-ring circus and comes off as a waste of the viewers time. But with the MLB game, there remains a sense of intrigue. I think this has everything to do with the fact that the players care more about winning as it now now directly affects home field advantage for the World Series.

The American League won yet again and are now 12-0-1 in the last 13 Midseason Classics.

Tampa Bay Rays star outfielder Carl Crawford was voted the games Most Valuable Player thanks in large part to his leaping catch to pull a potentially game-tying homerun back from going over the left field wall.

A couple of Texas Rangers players had good showings as well, with Michael Young and Josh Hamilton each going 1-for-3. Hamilton added a RBI in the first inning of the game.

"It was a good night," Hamilton said. "It was a little more relaxing than last year. I was able to take it in a little more. But you still can't get on a schedule or in a routine. You're still flying by the seat of your pants. But I was glad we got a win."



Texas' third All-Star, Nelson Cruz did not get in the game but made a big impression the previous night, finishing second to Prince Fielder in the Home Run Derby. Cruz hit several tape measure shots, including one that made it to the 4th tier of the left field seats, measuring over 470 feet. Cruz's shot was the first time a player has reached that part of Busch Stadium.

"Everybody was happy in the Dominican," Cruz said. "The media called me the first thing in the morning. The whole country was paying attention to what was going on. They were all proud and happy with the way that I performed."

Texas will now have a few days of rest before starting the 2nd half of the season Friday night against Minnesota.

Rangers Power Their Way To Win

Coming off a tough loss the previous night to the Mariners, the Rangers broke out the big bats, homering their way to victory.

Down 2-0 after starter Scott Feldman got off to a rough start in the 1st, the offense responded, getting a solo shot from Hank Blalock in the 2nd, a 3-run blast from Michael Young in the 3rd and a big 2-run shot from newly named All-Star Nelson Cruz that proved to be the difference in the game.

"That was the best ball I hit this year," Cruz said. "I crushed it."



Seattle picked up two runs in the bottom of the 8th off Derek Holland but it wasn't enough to keep Feldman from picking up his 8th win of the season.

"You never want to give up two, but I just tried to tell myself if I can keep it there, I know, more times than not, we're going to put up some runs," Feldman said. "I just really focused on keeping them right there, forgetting about that first inning and just pitching my game."

The bottom of the 9th was closed out by Rangers closer Frank Francisco, who was on his game and looked as good as he has since returning from the disabled list.

The win keeps Texas alone in 1st place in the AL West and also moved the team 4 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the division.